In celebration of International Open Access Week and with the generous support of the Museum Galleries Scotland Small Grants Fund, Aberdeen Archives, Gallery & Museums has just released over 5,000 images into the public domain under the Creative Commons 0 license (CC0). CC0 allows re-users to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, with no conditions.
This means that these images are now free for everybody to download on our Collection website https://emuseum.aberdeencity.gov.uk/collections and can be used for any purpose that you wish.
You may want to set your favourite Goose Girl as your phone, tablet, or computer background, or create your own original work of art using digital pieces of Aberdeen’s collection.
You could also download photographs of 19th century Aberdeen by the renowned George Washington Wilson for your historical research or school projects, or study the size, shape, and hallmarks of some of the finest Scottish silver. With over 5,000 inspiring images to discover, there is bound to be something that takes your fancy.
Going forward, all of these artworks from the collections of Aberdeen Archives, Gallery & Museums will remain free to download and the number of artworks and objects available under the CC0 license will increase as we continue to photograph and digitise works in the collection that are out of copyright (where the artist died over 70 years ago).
To find an image to download, go to the website above and open one of the “Open Access” Selections on the front page, click on “View All Works” and browse through to find something that catches your eye. Click on the chosen artwork or object and then locate the Download button just under the big image (it looks like a downward pointing arrow). You can download as many images as you like, so keep coming back online to discover something different each time. Visit the gallery in person and see something that catches your eye? Download immediately from your phone or return home to your computer and create your own digital gallery.
By releasing these images, we hope to remove some of the barriers to exploring and enjoying the collections in more detail, encouraging more people to make use of the images for personal enjoyment as well as for reimagining and repurposing by creative users. With images under the CC0 license you don’t have to let us know what you’ve done with them, but if you would like to share your enthusiasm for this new digital resource, or show us what you’ve created, then we’d be delighted to hear from you @twitter or @facebook
Download of the Day/Week
https://emuseum.aberdeencity.gov.uk/objects/1887/to-pastures-new
https://emuseum.aberdeencity.gov.uk/objects/2553/la-falaise-a-fecamp
https://emuseum.aberdeencity.gov.uk/objects/2292/maternite
https://emuseum.aberdeencity.gov.uk/objects/2095/afterglow
Blog by Thomas Megaw, Documentation Officer
